Muschamp says officials made right call booting Gator Brian Poole

September 21, 2013|By Joe Morgan, For the Sentinel

GAINESVILLE — Florida's Brian Poole was ejected after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Tennessee TE Brendan Downs during the fourth quarter. Pending a review by the Southeastern Conference, Poole will be suspended for the first half against Kentucky on Sept. 28, due to new NCAA rules regarding head-to-head hits.

"It was the right call," coach Will Muschamp said. "I don't have any problem with the call. I got a problem with the rule. Brian Poole was not trying to flagrantly hurt anyone. It's a bang-bang play. He's trying to go up. The ball's high. He's going in high. It's a bang-bang play. I thought it was the correct call. It was the right call."

Dominique Easley added: "I didn't like it. It's football. Let him play. He didn't really mean to do it, but they had to do what they had to do."

Poole, a sophomore, made his first career interception early in the second quarter. Two plays later, UF took the lead for good on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Murphy to Solomon Patton to make the score 10-7.

• Florida QB Jeff Driskel will under go season-ending surgery for a lower leg injury, but he was just one of several Gators banged up on Saturday.

Loucheiz Purifoy (right thigh contusion) and Leon Orr (shoulder) also left the game.

After missing the first two games with a partially torn pectoral muscle, Jon Halapio had to briefly leave the game with a swollen left eye.

"Jon Halapio got poked in the eye pretty good there," Muschamp said. "He couldn't see out of his left eye for most of the game."

"That's part of the deal — man down, man up — and our guys understand that," coach Will Muschamp said. "They understand that when their number is called, they have to prepare themselves the right way, and I think we've done that for the most part."

• The Gators began the season looking for playmakers at wide receiver. Through three games, Patton has answered the call.

Patton's 52-yard touchdown on a screen pass Murphy put the Gators ahead for good in Saturday's 31-17 win against Tennessee.

"It was just a route that they gave me," Patton said. "Trey Burton made a really good block for me. I just made one person miss and scored."

Two weeks after tallying a career-high 118 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches against Miami, Patton added 74 yards and a touchdown on three catches Saturday. His career high in receiving yards before 2013 was 27 against Vanderbilt as a freshman in 2010.

• Florida announced shortly before Saturday's game that Demarcus Robinson would be suspended against Tennessee due to a "violation of team rules." Both Robinson and Latroy Pittman will return to face the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky.

Florida has attempted to get the ball to Robinson this year after the freshman enjoyed a strong preseason camp that elicited rave reviews from teammates and coaches. However, Robinson has yet to make a catch this season.

• Tennessee WR Alton "Pig" Howard of Orlando's Edgewater hauled in four catches for 75 yards and a touchdown on Saturday.